A U.S. Postal employee pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to stealing mail, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Terry G. Williams, 55, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to a federal information that charges him with theft of mail by a Postal Service employee.

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Investigators said Williams, a postal support employee at the Processing and Distribution Center in Kansas City, admitted that he stole such items as greeting cards, gift cards and Netflix DVDs between April 2015, and April 2016. Williams pulled those items from the trays of letter mail he was loading to be processed, authorities said.

The U.S. attorney's office said federal agents watched Williams pull out colored envelopes from the trays and place them in his pockets and into a personal bag that was underneath his work station. When agents approached him at the end of his shift, he dropped the bag on the ground and ran away from the agents. Agents took him into custody.

According to investigators, Williams' bag contained 232 greeting cards. They also seized two gift cards from Williams. Inside the trunk of his vehicle, agents found 104 greeting cards, 34 Netflix DVD mailings and three gift cards.

Under federal statutes, Williams could be sentenced up to five years in federal prison without parole.